Reborn, back to a small county town to become a wealthy family

Chapter 783 Methods of Using People

"Come with me to Xishu Town this afternoon, and we'll take a walk around the construction site."

Having asked most of the basic questions, Luo Yang instructed Dong Dawei, "Don't notify the project team in advance; treat it as a surprise inspection."

Having served as a project manager, he knew very well that if leaders were notified in advance before inspecting a project, the site would be meticulously rectified, making it impossible to see the true state of the construction work.

Upon hearing this, Dong Dawei knew it was time for him to leave, so he nodded, stood up, and gave Luo Yang a respectful bow.

No sooner had he left than Su Yutong arrived at the chairman's office.

"Chairman, what you said last night sounded so convincing. I thought about it for most of the night after I got back, and I almost couldn't sleep."

As she spoke, the girl leaned forward to show off her dark circles.

"Is that so?"

Luo Yang smiled and shook his head; "To be able to lose sleep without saying anything, you're still not calm enough. Thinking about it now, I'm glad I didn't let you know anything when I left work yesterday, otherwise it wouldn't have been as simple as just losing sleep."

Eh?
Hearing her boss say that, Su Yutong got even more excited.

She had a feeling that what Luo Yang was about to say was definitely not simple.

"Well, during my trip to the US to discuss bike-sharing partnerships with IDG Capital in the European and American markets, a new idea came to mind."

"Is this idea related to our apparel industry?"

Su Yutong has been growing rapidly recently, and with her intelligence intact, she has a vague idea of ​​what's going on.

"Yes, it's related to the clothing industry."

Back in a hotel near IDG headquarters, Luo Yang and Song Wan discussed building an ecosystem, which led to the idea of ​​creating a sports brand that would include not only sports equipment (mainly bicycles) but also sportswear and related products.

Since we're going to talk about it, we need to explain the cause and effect thoroughly.

Luo Yang recounted the conversation he had in the hotel to Su Yutong.

"Chairman, what do you mean?"

Su Yutong was momentarily incredulous, her eyes wide as she asked, "You want to create a sportswear brand?"

It's not his fault.

Previously, Shang Guozheng wanted to establish a sales network for Fengshang menswear in major cities across the country, but the plan was rejected by Luo Yang because of the high cost.

In order not to dampen Shang Guozheng's enthusiasm, Luo Yang proposed an agent system, and only a handful of cities were approved for direct operation by the headquarters, and they were all located in major cities in South China.

The same applies to women's clothing.

Although she didn't reach the point of recruiting agents, in order to ensure steady development, Su Yutong only chose to expand into markets surrounding the Yangtze River Delta urban cluster, finding a balance between saving money and expanding the market.

It can be said that Zhengyang Group is currently in a period of stable growth and does not need to waste funds and relationships in order to expand the market.

Moreover, if it were just a matter of money, it might be easier to discuss.

The point is that it's a waste of a favor for such a trivial matter. Luo Yang's favors aren't worthless.

Not to mention putting in a large sum of cash to start a sportswear brand, which could easily turn into a useless venture.

That's why Su Yutong found it difficult to understand Luo Yang's idea in a short period of time.

"Why can't we use funds from the new profits to fund this project?"

Luo Yang reminded Su Yutong, "The initial inspiration for this project came from shared bicycles, which you may not be familiar with. Let me introduce it first before continuing."

After saying this, he paused for a moment.

He picked up his teacup and took a big gulp, then gave Su Yutong a brief introduction to the business operation model of the shared bicycle project.

"Starting in September or October, our shared bikes will leave the campus and go to the city."

Luo Yang said to Su Yutong, "The company will have a huge demand for bicycles in the coming period, and as our project gains popularity, several competitors with similar products will emerge in the market. These competitors will also need a large number of bicycles."

At this point, even the slow-witted Su Yutong understood.

“I remember that you partnered with Yuanfan Electric Vehicles to set up a bicycle factory, which is now in production.”

"Yes, this is something we started planning last year."

"So you mean you're planning to transfer the shares of this bicycle factory to Zhengyang Group?"

Su Yutong's thoughts wandered: "Use the profits generated from bicycles to start a sportswear brand? Can't you think of anything more?"

Luo Yang clicked his tongue and asked, "Could you get us cycling gear like sneakers, helmets, gloves, socks, knee pads, and elbow pads?"

In Su Yutong's eyes, Zhengyang Group is a clothing company.

No matter how unconventional her thinking is, it won't be as free-flowing and unrestrained as Luo Yang's for a while.

But when Luo Yang pointed it out, her eyes lit up.

"Actually, we could set up a branch company under Zhengyang Group to specialize in sports products."

Once she got the hang of it, Su Yutong thought of even more.

She suggested to Luo Yang with a hint of excitement, "It's not just these. For example, we can produce products like camping tents. Although I haven't done any market research yet, I have a feeling that there aren't many of these products on the market right now, which is a good opportunity for us to get involved. By continuously building our brand image over the next few years, we may have the chance to create a well-known brand of outdoor sports equipment."

Luo Yang never expected that something he had mentioned casually that morning would spark such a brilliant idea.

Indeed, as Su Yutong said, at this stage, because the national income has not yet reached that level, outdoor sports are still only a professional field for a few people, or sports played by enthusiasts.

However, in about ten years, national income will increase significantly, the number of middle-class families will increase, and the consumption concepts of young people born in the 90s and 00s will change, and their attitudes toward life will become more positive. Therefore, outdoor sports will no longer be a sport for a minority.

Getting involved in outdoor sports equipment now is definitely worth a try.

"I'll talk to Yuanfan later, and you'll be in charge of the follow-up."

After thinking for a moment, Luo Yang nodded and said, "After taking over the bicycle factory's shares, you should also set up the framework for the sports industry. We have no experience in this area and need to bring in a lot of professional talent."

He suddenly fell silent at this point.

"Chairman"

After waiting for a long time without hearing anything from Luo Yang, Su Yutong couldn't help but wake her boss from his deep thoughts.

"Yang City is still too small."

At this point, Luo Yang couldn't help but sigh again: "Ordinary designers and factory production workers are fine in Yang City, but those high-end talents in brand planning and brand design are a different story."

"Chairman, didn't you previously instruct Zhengyang Group to set up a clothing design studio in Shanghai?"

Su Yutong reacted quickly and promptly proposed a solution: "In that case, why not package everything together and move the important departments such as sports design and planning to Shanghai as well, so they can keep the fashion design studio company?"

"That is one solution."

Luo Yang smiled and casually asked, "You mentioned the clothing design studio earlier, how's that going?"

"I was just about to report to you."

Su Yutong immediately replied: "I went to Shanghai a few days ago. Besides attending an exhibition, another important thing was to set up a clothing design studio. This included hosting a dinner party on Sunday night. In addition to my former university classmates, I also invited several former teachers to learn from their experience. I extended the invitations."

"A teacher from Donghua University?"

As is well known, fashion design programs in Chinese universities are divided into several tiers. The top tier of universities is concentrated in the capital, especially the Capital Institute of Fashion Technology, Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, and Huaxia Academy of Fine Arts.

In the south, the fashion design programs at Soochow University and Jiangnan University are only considered average, a level above other universities.

The only southern university that can rival the three northern universities is Donghua University.

"Yes, it's my alma mater, Donghua University."

Su Yutong said, "I plan to hire several outstanding mentors from my alma mater, along with excellent graduates from the fashion design program at Donghua University, to form the core team for Zhengyang Group's fashion design studio. Of course, not all employees will be from Donghua University; at least 50% of the designers will come from other prestigious universities."

Luo Yang did not immediately express his opinion.

He was thinking through the act of making tea.

Su Yutong may still be inexperienced, but given her gratitude for Luo Yang's guidance, she will definitely dedicate herself wholeheartedly to her work.

So there's no problem right now, and the studio's lukewarm performance isn't a big issue either.
However, as she grows older, gains more social experience, and rises in rank, her ambition inevitably grows with the passage of time.

Half of the designers in the design studio are from Donghua University.
Is it really a good idea to leave everything to Su Yutong?
Even with the worst possible assumptions, if one day in the future, President Su is dissatisfied with the company's treatment or has a conflict with the company's development philosophy and wants to go independent, she can take the entire design team and leave at any time.

If such a thing were to happen, more than half of Zhengyang Group would be immediately paralyzed.

When employing people, it is necessary to both delegate authority and maintain checks and balances.

(End of this chapter)